This place was like visiting a Walmart on Black Friday! I really wanted to enjoy this place---but sadly, NO. I took my 2 and 4 year old here for a fun time. We recently moved to El Paso from Virginia where we went to pumpkin patches every fall, but were sadly disappointed; and this is why:
The downside:
Cost: adult admission was $12, Children 2-5- $6. That is a total of $36 for the four of us but they did not allow outside food or beverage, so you also were at the mercy of their junk food...hot dogs, potato chips, pop corn or brisket only for purchase using tokens. You either had to guess how many tokens you would need before you came in, or stand in a huge line for tokens once inside....just to stand in another line for the food. Plus, it was so crowded we didn't get to do half the things they had.
Crowds: We took our kids after nap time around 4:30 PM. When we got there, it was so crowded, there was an hour wait to even get in. There were quite a few ticket windows but only 3-4 were open due to them being "short staffed." For the money they make off people coming in, you would think they could afford more staff. I actually saw people leaving from line and we almost turned around when we saw the crowd. Had we not already drove 40 minutes with small children who completely expected a day at the pumpkin patch--we would have also left.
Anyone who has small children knows that this is not ideal. This is especially horrible when they stop the trains to the pumpkin patch at 6:00 P.M. We got inside at went straight for the train to the patch so as not to miss it but the line was just as long as the one we stood in to get in...NO WAY my toddlers were doing that again....so they missed it.
The website does say the first two weeks and last two weeks are less crowded, but due to previous plans, we could only go today. Maybe waiting until last minute is the trick; alas we will never know because I will never go back to this mess of a place again.
We waited 3 cycles to even jump on the bounce area, 20 minutes for the zip line, 15 minutes for the big slide (the first time- when we went back it was twice as long and no more bags left), as time went on the lines got worse. More teens came in and they seemed to take over all the rides even the ones for smaller children.
I am guessing it is worse then VA because it is one of the only "games" in town. I was surprised to see so many people there without kids...must be the evening crowd for the maze. (lots of teens and people seemingly on dates)
Lack of supervision/dangerous conditions- I am not squeamish when it comes to my small boys; however, there are basic life rules I expect people to follow (or at least parents to enforce)--especially when small children are involved. There were several small slides in the area that were perfect for my little guys (2 and 4) to go on. However, they were inundated with larger kids (8-15) who actually pushed my toddlers out of the way and cut in front of at every opportunity. I actually had to play referee a few times (no idea where the older kids parents were) because there was absolutely no supervision from the establishment on the smaller slides. How can a place charge $36 for a family (2 of which were toddlers) and not afford staff to supervise?????? ridiculous. They had to have made hundreds of thousands of dollars off the season and didn't seem to care about anyone's experience. very frustrating.
Tips:
-Bugs everywhere- bring bug spray.
-If you are there during daylight hours, sunscreen up- no shade.
-Feed your kids before you go- long lines for food and not a lot of variety. The snack lines were shorter and accepted cash instead of tokens. We skipped the tokens and survived on popcorn, chips, and fruit snacks to avoid a 30 minute line for a hot dog.
-ignore the neighbors $5.00 parking sign. We found people were always leaving the main lot and it was free.
-pack TP, the porta johns had no lines but were often empty of toilet paper.
-Pack wet wipes. this is the dustiest, dirtiest place I have been since Iraq...and very little room for cleaning
-buy your tickets online before you go-- much shorter line at the front of the main line if you have your online tix purchases already. Check their website for the link.
Kudos:
- Kettle corn was amazing.
- Management was apologetic about the lines and them being short staffed. They refunded the money I spent on tokens for food (i was not about to stand in a 30 min line for a hot dog)
- Kids loved the activities they did get to go on- even though most had too long of lines and many were too much like WWF events to go on
Bottom line: go at an off time (according to website- last couple of weekends or first) and bring your patience. read more